Last Satuday, 27th of January, we had our very first car seat check in 2018. It’s a full-on check back to back with 34 registrations (four out of those cancelled prior to event). However, only 21 child restraint systems (CRS) were checked due to some last minute cancellations and one CRS checked for a walk-in parent.
We also have our first two volunteers that came in to help with the check. Thank you to Ms. Fay Fathir who came and help with registrations and form recordings. Our thank you also goes to Mr. Eric Chow who came in to take our photos! All the photos in this blog post are from his camera. If you like his work, you may check out Eric’s FB Profile.
This year, we will try to share with you our findings from each of the car seat checks that we will be doing.
Here are some key learning points from this car seat check:
1. There are 4 CRS not installed, 2 of these with children harnessed inside & another 2 without children present.
Strapping a child inside a CRS without installing the CRS to the vehicle is the same as putting your child without restraint. And travelling with a CRS that is not secured to the vehicle – even though your child is not in it – is like travelling with a time bomb since the CRS can become a deadly projectile during impact, either to the driver or other occupants in the vehicle.
2. Five of the CRS checked are recommended to be changed due to the CRS brought expiring or expired (2), not suitable in terms of fitting to the car (2 – one of this is an Australian std CRS used in a vehicle that doesn’t have tether anchor) or not suitable for the child (1).
Selection of the CRS is very important, it should fit your child and your car, and always used correctly each time.
3. There is a case where even though the children checked are twins with the exact same model of CRS used, setting for each of the children is different since their growth is different.
When selecting and using a CRS, it should be tailored to each unique child, in order to optimise the safety features. CRS is NOT interchangeable between children unless the settings are reset to the child.
4. Highest error in usage is harness slack where a child is not harnessed snugly.
It can cause injury as the child can slip out of the restraint, or the forces not distributed evenly as it should be. Slack in harness is also the main cause for children to take out their hands from the harness.
5. Wrong harness slot used is the second highest error in harnessing. Most errors happened when a child is rear-facing and using a slot that is higher than their shoulder.
6. An installation that is not secured or is moving more than 1″ becomes the main cause for installation error in this check. We can safely say that most parents install the CRS as per the belt routing instructions but failed to install it securely.
We hope that this sharing will help you to check your usage and installation of the CRS you have on hand. If you need a CPS Technician or Advisor to check your child restraint, don’t hesitate to contact us at carseatcheck@cpsmalaysia.org.
Towards Safer Travels!
Child Passenger Safety Malaysia 